Victory 26

Combat Report: 1200 hrs, BE two-seater, south of La Folie Wood, near Vimy. Occupants: Lieutenant Byrne and Lieutenant Smythe, 40 Squadron. Both killed. Plane No. 6232, details of motor not at hand, as motor dashed into earth; cannot be dug up as locality under heaviest artillery fire. I had lost my squad, and was flying alone, and had been observing for some time an enemy artillery flyer. In a favourable moment I attacked the BE machine, and after 200 shots the body of the machine broke in half. The plane fell smoking into our lines. The plane is lying near the forest of La Folie west of Vimy, only a few paces behind the trenches. Weather: fine in morning; cloudy in afternoon.